Cash Back Rewards Cards Thread

My wife and I have the Costco Credit Card and their cash back rewards program is pretty good, but wondering if you guys know of any better ones out there since we really don't shop there as much anymore.  We fly Southwest 1-2 times a year but not sure if we should get a Southwest rewards card or just stick to one of the newer cash back cards like Chase Blue Saphire or Capital One Venture.

Thoughts anyone?  @tj_PE, @jean15paul_PE?

I've often thought about doing lots of research on nerdwallet.com , but I've never actually done it. I'd like to know how to maximize the value of my cards.

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I'm pretty into collecting credit card signup bonuses which can benefit you in many ways besides just flights. 

but, i recently booked a $16000 value business class ticket for $1300 out of pocket (300 of that was surplus for choosing special seats) and my miles that I've saved up...this will be my first ever business class trip and i'm super fucking pumped. 

My wife is the type who would only want to use one card for most of our purchases.  Not one for gas, one for groceries, one for travel.  Is that pretty much the best way to maximize the value?  If it is, maybe I can convince her.

If not, and we only want to use one card, which is the best to use?

I don't ever spend more than i can pay off in a month (besides my first month with a mortgage payment on my first house because i didn't understand some key elements and it only cost me like 3 dollars lol) 

and i have some premium cards that offer me protections and fancy benefits I never even considered having. 

tj_PE said:

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I'm pretty into collecting credit card signup bonuses which can benefit you in many ways besides just flights. 

but, i recently booked a $16000 value business class ticket for $1300 out of pocket (300 of that was surplus for choosing special seats) and my miles that I've saved up...this will be my first ever business class trip and i'm super fucking pumped. 

Click to expand...

Wow $16000 for a plane ticket?  

MEtoEE said:

My wife is the type who would only want to use one card for most of our purchases.  Not one for gas, one for groceries, one for travel.  Is that pretty much the best way to maximize the value?  If it is, maybe I can convince her.

If not, and we only want to use one card, which is the best to use?

Click to expand...

would she be open to using one card until you got to x amount which = sign up bonus miles money points, and then switching to the next? like always only using one card, but it rotates? that's kinda how i operate. 

MEtoEE said:

Wow $16000 for a plane ticket?  

Click to expand...

YES i would never spend that much, that's just the cash value of the ticket i booked. 

I have a 45 minute commute one way, so I thought about getting a good gas card.  I figured with automatic draft, my wife wouldn't mind having multiple cards, but she's the one in charge of finances so....

tj_PE said:

would she be open to using one card until you got to x amount which = sign up bonus miles money points, and then switching to the next? like always only using one card, but it rotates? that's kinda how i operate. 

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was thinking.  Back in the day, we would rotate with cable/satellite carriers (Time Warner, Dish Network, DirecTV).  We would get the promotion, and a year or two later after the promotion ended, just switch to a different company to take advantage of THEIR promotion lol.  Worked like a charm.  Now we just do live streaming (YouTube TV) through internet.

a major wealth of knowledge and where I've learned my preferences and priorities is on 

https://10xtravel.com/

@MEtoEE I would probably recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred to start. 60,000 points for 4,000 spend in 3 months. it has a 95 dollar? annual fee, but has various travel protections and other things that come with it, that I find valuable. 

I wonder if you can pay your mortgage with it.  That would be a good way to rack up points.

MEtoEE said:

That's exactly what I was thinking.  Back in the day, we would rotate with cable/satellite carriers (Time Warner, Dish Network, DirecTV).  We would get the promotion, and a year or two later after the promotion ended, just switch to a different company to take advantage of THEIR promotion lol.  Worked like a charm.  Now we just do live streaming (YouTube TV) through internet.

Click to expand...

yeah so apply that to the travel cards and when you guys decide to do a fun trip somewhere you'll have a multitude of cards to travel with! 

I would probably recommend the Chase Freedom or Unlimited for gas. freedom usually gives you 5x on gas for at least one quarter of the year, and unlimited gives you 1.5 on everything. Sapphire is something like 2x on travel and dining or something and 1x on the rest.

MEtoEE said:

I wonder if you can pay your mortgage with it.  That would be a good way to rack up points.

Click to expand...

negative

i mean, you can, but you have to use a service that charges crazy fees to do so. so maybe if you need help meeting a signup bonus but not in general practice. 

I guess I have homework to do lol

happy to answer questions! 

MEtoEE said:

I wonder if you can pay your mortgage with it.  That would be a good way to rack up points.

Click to expand...

I don’t use credit cards, but I do know that this would be a big no-no.

just saying I booked my night before SE hotel room so i dont have to drive up in traffic, for $2 out of pocket

tj_PE said:

happy to answer questions! 

Click to expand...

I know for a fact all 3 of us are flying to North Carolina via Southwest.  Should we still get the Chase Freedom or Sapphire?